Men can face jail for 'loving them and leaving them'

Time magazine estimates that more 200,000 couples get engaged on Valentine's Day.

But, in Mississippi, a law on the books could send a man to jail if he doesn't follow through on a marriage proposal, 16 WAPT News reported. The law is outlined in Mississippi Code, Section 97-29-55. A man could be jailed for up to five years for "loving 'em and leaving 'em," reported 16 WAPT's Keegan Foxx.

"If any person shall obtain carnal knowledge of any woman by virtue of any false or feigned promise of marriage, he shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than five years," the law reads.

Basically, it's illegal in Mississippi for a man to back out of a proposal if the woman claims he convinced her to have sex by promising marriage.

Family law attorney Craig Robertson, of Ridgeland, said the law has been on the books for a while.

"It dates back 100 years," Robertson said. "To my knowledge, and the recorded opinions say, that it hasn't been prosecuted in Mississippi in probably about 50 years."

Even though no one has used it, the "love 'em and leave 'em" law is still a real one on the Mississippi books.

"Odds are they wouldn't have very much luck getting the attention of a prosecutor," Robertson said.

Hinds County Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn issues marriage licenses out of her office.

"We would be lonesome as women if all the men were in jail because they made a promise and didn't keep it," Dunn said of the law.

The "Seduction of a female" law isn't the only love-themed item on the books in Mississippi. In fact, there are other provisions in Mississippi Code for love gone wrong, some of which are brought up in legal matters today.

"Alienation of affection is a civil lawsuit that a person can file against a third party, essentially if they steal their spouse from them," Robertson said.

Also, being unmarried but living together in Mississippi is against the law in some instances, under "unlawful co-habitation."

"It's not uncommon in a divorce case for a lawyer to instruct their client to plead the Fifth Amendment," Robertson said. "In other words, not saying anything because they could incriminate themselves as it relates to some of these older laws."

On Valentine's Day, Dunn has a word of advice.

"Maybe go to the church supper or something in hopes of meeting a man that would be true to you," she said.

Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."